Tough Cookie Talks

Tough Cookie Talks

By Jenna JozefowskiHealth & Fitness
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Tough Cookie Talks episodes

  • Why You Work Out All The Time But Aren't Getting Any Stronger

    “Why do I work out all the time, feel like I’m running in circles and running myself into the ground but seemingly getting nowhere?”

    I get this question often. Maybe you can relate? I have a few ideas as to why this may be the case for you. So let’s break it down.

    In this episode we talk about:

    • Why the answer to getting stronger might actually be to work out less. 
    • Why group fitness classes can only take you so far. 
    • The truth about lifting heavy weights and building muscle. 
    • How to make sure you're not conflating getting stronger and looking "toned".
    • Why tracking your progress isn't inherently a "diet culture" behavior.
    • Some encouragement that you're not broken if this is you. <3

      • Links mentioned in this episode:

      "Why You Work Out All the Time But Aren't Getting Stronger" (blog post that inspired this episode) 

      How to connect with me:

      Join my email list

      Visit my website and blog

      How to work with me

      Follow & tag me on Instagram

      23 min
    • The WHOLE Truth: My Experience With Elimination Diets

      Elimination diets are not for everyone and definitely NOT for me. It took me awhile to even share my “elimination diet failure” story with anyone. I was embarrassed. I thought it was my fault that it didn’t work. I think that’s probably the reason that most people don’t share their diet failure stories more often. Today, I’m sharing the WHOLE TRUTH. My very ugly experience with a popular elimination diet. (Hint: It rhymes with Shmole Shmirty.)

      In this episode we talk about:

      • Why programs that call themselves "not a diet" actually are. 
      • How I gave up dairy, gluten, grains, sugar, legumes, corn, peanuts, alcohol, soy, and joy for a few months and wound up GAINING weight at the end of it all. 
      • The surprising reason I had an itchy rash the majority of the time. 
      • How this experience led me to say "F this I'm done" with diet culture for good and led me to the work I do today.
      • A sprinkle of humor as I regale you with stories of how I used to spend hours making "nacho cheese" out of sweet potatoes, crying over candied pecans, and picking beans out of chili at super bowl parties--and how I came out on the other side. 


        • Links mentioned in this episode:

        "The WHOLE Truth: My Experience With Elimination Diets" (blog post that inspired this episode)


        How to connect with me:

        Join my email list

        Visit my website and blog

        How to work with me

        Follow & tag me on Instagram

        32 min
      • The Fitness Industry Has It A$$ Backwards (+ Other Unconventional Ideas)

        Most people don't know what to make of my philosophy on fitness. One minute I’m posting a video of me swinging kettlebells. The next minute I’m telling you to take a rest day. First I’m calling BS on all the ways the fitness industry is making you feel like crap. Then I’m talking about the mental health benefits of working out. But just like everything I do, there’s a method to my madness. My fitness philosophy is unlike that of most others. And I’m not sorry about it.

        In this episode we talk about:

        • Why being thin, being healthy, and being fit are not necessarily synonymous. 
        • Why fitness is a social justice issue.
        • How the way we operate as an industry pushes away the very people we are trying to help.
        • Why I'll never tell you to "love your body".
        • And lots of other hot takes! 

          • Links mentioned in this episode:

          "My Philosophy On Fitness Is Unconventional & I'm Not Sorry About It" (blog post that inspired this episode)

          Health At Every Size (book)

          Body Respect (book)

          Intuitive Eating (book)

          How to connect with me:

          Join my email list

          Visit my website and blog

          How to work with me

          Follow & tag me on Instagram

          31 min
        • What Exactly Is "Diet Culture" & How Is It Harmful?

          What is diet culture and how is it harmful? I often talk about “diet culture” and how much I hate it. At the same time I don’t think a lot of people truly understand what I mean when I use this term. "Diet culture" is about more than just being on a diet. . .


          In this episode we talk about: 

          • All the sneaky ways diet culture shows up in the world and in our lives.
          • Why does this even matter?? How much is diet culture actually hurting you and those you care about? 
          • Steps we can take to start to take down diet culture together.


            • Links mentioned in this episode: 

            "What Is Diet Culture & How Is It Harmful?" (the blog post that inspired this episode)

            Health At Every Size (book) 

            Body Respect (book) 

            Intuitive Eating (book) 


            How to connect with me:

            Join my email list

            Visit my website and blog

            How to work with me

            Follow & tag me on Instagram

            31 min
          • I Have A Podcast! My Backstory + How We Got Here

            So. . .I have a podcast! This episode will set the stage and manage your expectations for all future episodes to come. 

            On this episode we'll talk about: 

            • My origin story. How I came to be doing the work I do as an anti-diet culture fitness professional. 
            • What you can expect from this show moving forward.


              • The big takeaways: 

              • I want this podcast to feel like I'm hanging out drinking coffee with you while you fold your laundry, walk your dog, or drive to work. I will probably fumble over my words, say "literally" literally all the time, laugh at myself, not edit it out, and we will all live. 
              • This podcast is unfiltered and uncensored. If I know you in real life, we likely interact in contexts where it’s not appropriate for me to talk about certain things or in certain ways. This is a place where we will have tough conversations and things will get spicy from time to time. Expect me to challenge your views. Expect me to express my beliefs about all things even if it makes people uncomfortable. Expect colorful language. 
              • I'm planning on doing weekly solo episodes and the occasional guest interview. We'll see how it goes! 


                • How to connect with me: 

                Join my email list: https://itsjennaj.com/index.php/join-my-email-list/

                Visit my website and blog: https://itsjennaj.com/

                Follow & tag me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsjennaj/

                24 min
              • Trailer

                Welcome to Tough Cookie Talks. Your new favorite podcast when it comes to exploring all the gray areas between fitness and anti-diet culture and everything in between. I'm your host, Jenna Jozefowski (but you can call me Jenna J), a semi-retired professional dancer, dance teacher, and yoga teacher, turned certified personal trainer & kettlebell instructor. After years of living and working in industries full of diet-culture, I got sick and tired of watching people (including myself) running themselves into the ground trying to uphold the narrow-minded image of what our culture sees as “healthy” and “fit”.  When I started learning more about the anti-diet culture movement, I found that while many people were talking about food and body image, there were not nearly enough people talking about the exercise piece, other than to say that "the fitness industry is toxic". I knew there was still a lot of good to be found, so instead of giving it all up, I decided that I'd rather change the game, call out the BS, extract the good parts, and help others learn to use movement as a way to build themselves up instead of tear themselves down. Now, my favorite thing to do is help women learn to lift and get strong with equal parts challenge and compassion. I'm here to remind you that fitness doesn't have a "look", strong looks different on everybody, and you don't have to run yourself into the ground achieve either. This place where we'll let go of "shoulds", judgment, and the all-or-nothing mindset. We'll dig into tough conversations with curiosity, and you can expect both spicy rants and actionable advice here. If you've ever wondered things like: Why you work out all the time but aren't getting stronger, how to fit working out into your life when your life is a shitshow, all the sneaky ways the fitness industry is making you feel like crap and what to do about it, how to give up diet culture without giving up on your health, or what the heck "fitness without a side of diet culture" even looks like, this is the podcast for you. To learn more about me and how we can work together visit my website itsjennaj.com or find me and tag me on Instagram @itsjennaj the next time you listen. I'm so pumped you're here and I can't wait to talk more with you! So grab your headphones, and make sure you subscribe in Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts, so that you don't miss an episode.

                3 min

              About Tough Cookie Talks

              From the publisher's feed

              Tough Cookie Talks is a podcast we'll explore the intersection of fitness & anti-diet culture and all the gray areas in between. We'll let go of "shoulds" and judgment and dig into tough…